The art and science of keeping watch (Muraqabah)

A journey of noticing and returning:

Lived experience

I’m not getting it - what’s the point ?

Another thought follows:
‘This seems silly’

A story begins to form
‘Will this even work ?’

I start questioning whether this is worth the effort.

Is this what it means to see the ego resist ? It was surprising to witness the distraction.
This is what my first few attempts at meditating looked like.

I came to realise later that this is a station, of doubt and restlessness (also termed ‘the monkey mind’).
I realised I was not failing and not a ‘failure’. The moment of noticing distraction was the moment of practice and training. It counted as a ‘rep’.

It is commonly experienced by people starting out on any kind of project, including meditation.

Returning to a smile

Compare and contrast the following:

My mind has wandered off again.
Why am I so forgetful?
Why can’t I do this well ?

I notice the mind has wandered off. What a blessing to notice this !

It is the nature of the mind to wander. It is a structural feature that mental content will arise, and pass, continually (termed the Default Mode Network of the brain in Neuroscience).
Getting swept up is not necessarily failure. The awareness of ‘my attention has wandered’ is the essence of this practice.

Would we berate a toddler for wanting to explore ? Yet, how often do we beat ourselves up for being forgetful or distracted.

It is this insight that I found so liberating.

Going deeper - spring cleaning, for the mind

To peer into the depths of the psyche means getting acquainted with what can distract us and pull us off the straight path.

This points to a deeper spiritual and psychological theme in the Qur’an:

لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
No fear [worries about the future] shall be upon them, nor shall they grieve [regret and rumination]

A decade ago, I was frequently getting swept away by the currents of the mind into the past or the future. The heart was not fully anchored in trust (tawakkul) or peace (salam). Pretending, getting busier or speeding up in an effort to be more productive certainly wasn’t helping. It was a struggle to stay in the present, chasing what the self thought it must have, but what was not really needed.

This led me to explore meditation and find out how to relate to my mind as well as my heart in a more wholesome manner. It still is challenging.
But with consistent practice, the ability to truly tune in to each moment has improved. The ability to transform through training and simple noticing still surprises me.

The key shift was a different relationship with thoughts and emotions.

Gradually, this led to something unexpected.
There was an aspect of pure joy as well as quieter and clearer awareness to enter into. My experience of life had become brighter, lighter and more playful. A childlike wonder had returned as I spent less time in narrative thinking. Spring was not only in the air, but in my step.

In my experience, it gives the choice of going beyond simply observing experiences. It becomes more about fully acknowledging what God is sending us (receiving as something sent for a purpose, not random). This self surrender in order to receive insight can be further trained by looking deeper into the mind, the heart as well as looking deeper into the spiritual realm through contemplating nature, revelation and purpose (tafakkur).

I was able to notice whenever my mind was getting caught up in a story, getting attached to a narrative or simply being lost in daydreaming mode. I noticed changes in the way I related to others and seeing more opportunities to practise kindness, empathy and generosity. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is returning to the present moment, to what is eternal.

This vitality is there for us to access– with training, perseverance and patience. The need to seek escape (social media,gaming) or constant novelty falls away as we find it within. The treasure rests in recognising our current state and releasing attachments in order to access the sublime nature of each moment.

Training

The skill of observing the movements of the mind as well as how we can keep it on one object of focus can be trained.
So the question is, how do we train it ? Beyond the pure joy of catching the mind as it wanders, training this skill means that the flashlight of the mind can shine more brightly on an object. It can cast a wider beam or simply be returned to the object we want it to stay on more regularly and with more grace.

I noticed that meditative practices fall into these key groups:

  1. Loving kindness
  2. Open monitoring/awareness
  3. Focused attention
  4. Reciting/Vocalising

These practices allow us to clear away the clouds of the mind. With regular practice, I found this deepened my connection with God, other people and nature.
Is there any treasure that could be more valuable than this?

The 6Rs

  1. Recognise - the mind has wandered, often through noticing tension in the head or how our facial muscles have contracted (as if standing under a waterfall of thoughts )

  2. Release – do I need to follow this thought, emotion or sensation and the corresponding story ? (Taking a step back from the waterfall)

  3. Relax – soften, breathing out a longer exhale (sigh out)

  4. Return – back to the object e.g. the feeling of gratitude or a phrase

  5. Re-smiling – congratulations, the mind was pulled away and then brought back ! Done with a balance of right effort and sense of ease.

  6. Repeating the process – every time a distraction happens

As with any path, there will be obstacles and challenges along the way.

Dealing with distraction and impulsivity

An interpretative reflection: ثُمَّ لَآتِيَنَّهُم مِّنۢ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ وَعَنْ أَيْمَٰنِهِمْ وَعَن شَمَآئِلِهِمْ
Then I will come to them:

  1. from the front [the future anxiety/doubt]

  2. and from behind them [past - regret/rumination - memory traps]

  3. from their right [self - pride/ego]

  4. and from their left [desires/temptations/ill will] (7.17)

This is more than theory – it will start to play out within minutes of sitting in silence.

If we listen to these whispers or feed into the storyline, we can easily get taken off our path.

Common hindrances (along with associated narratives) :

  1. Sense desire – e.g. part of us may feel hunger and our thoughts may then drift to planning a meal

  2. Sloth/Dullness – another part of us may want to rest or relax as the mind feels foggy or low in energy.

  3. Ill will – this may come in the form of hostility, towards ourselves or others (around stressful situations, distressing memories or an underlying sense of hurt)

  4. Restlessness – our mind may resist as it is not getting the usual amount of external stimulation and it can throw up other ideas or activities that can appear to be more exciting.

  5. Doubt – there will be obstacles of worry, hesitation and anxiety, whether this method is correct or if this practice is worth it at all.

As often as the mind wanders, we will not be able to control what exactly arises in our consciousness from the unconscious parts of our mind.
It is similar to seeing the surface of a lake which has many contents underneath. Anything underwater can surface and then be observed.

What we can do is choose our attitude and response to what is surfacing.

We can choose to explore with curiosity and openness as we observe what arises without clinging or getting pulled into analysis (deeper reflection has its place in Tafakkur). Without feeding into it, we can then notice how experiences are ephemeral.

Dua and Loving-Kindness

Being grateful for what we have been granted as well as wishing for equanimity, grace, and guidance is a key part of this practice. Expanding the practice and wishing it for others consistently, has resulted in more frequent states of happiness, peace, and tranquillity throughout the day.

When we couple this with seeing ourselves and others as happy, safe, and healthy, I have found that we are more likely to take effective action towards engendering those states for ourselves and others. When we sincerely wish for others what we have wished for ourselves, our circle moves beyond the confines of the self and moves out from thinking just about me to those close to us, our neighbours, and the wider community.

A simple practice to get started on is to have a ‘Dua jar’ with names of those we would like to make dua for regularly.

Open awareness/monitoring

“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite…” William Blake

Starting with grounding through our senses, we can really settle our minds through noticing what is entering through each sense door.

Before beginning activities, even walks, I’ve found that this practice of cleansing the senses has been pivotal. I notice much more of the surroundings around me, from the astounding beauty of nature to being more focused during work tasks.

Focused attention/absorption

In focused attention, we point our mind towards one object and aim to keep it on that object. For example, in prayer, this can be the point on which we will prostrate (thereby increasing Khushuu). By noticing how our attention wanders and gently bringing it back, we remain steadfast on our object of worship.

Visual focus has also been proven to lead to more mental focus, and it can be as simple as looking at one point for half a minute.
By spending longer times in prostration, thought activity can be observed even more sharply as we step behind the waterfall of external as well as internal stimuli.

Reciting/verbalising

Another practice for cultivating calm and re-grounding is to use set phrases or recitation to return to. These can be centred around supplicating, remembrance or praise. By anchoring to a sound, word or phrase, we can vocalise with our object of focus or count our repetitions on the notches of our fingers or a prayer bead. Guided remembrance and prayers are helpful as an extra support for this practice.

We can tune into the felt resonance of these phrases once they have been verbalised and tune into the feeling that the phrase evokes. As the mind wanders, we can keep returning to these phrases in order to stay present.
This is a beautiful way to be expressive and really utilise the power of speech for a higher cause.

Conclusion

So far we have covered the main groups of meditation training

  1. Loving-kindness
  2. Open-awareness
  3. Focused attention
  4. Verbalising/Reciting

Each has its benefits as well as inter-related benefits when combined throughout the day, yet the one that has produced the most fruit in terms of moment to moment has been the 6R method. In Part 2, we will explore additional techniques for each practice.

Meditation is simpler than the mind makes it out to be, and the key is to explore our experiences with kindness, curiosity and compassion. The joy of receiving insight and inspiration is simply ineffable. All it requires for us is to keep knocking.

What began as a way to relate to the mind, made me realise that it is not something to be controlled. The shift from trying to control the mind to accepting the process of unfolding had a radical impact. It changed my relationship to the phenomena that arose. The levels of understanding that then got generated were beyond my power to predict.

This is more than something to intellectually understand.

It is there, waiting to be discovered in each moment.

من ذاق عرف
whoever tastes, knows

Resources

Apps (free)

  • Insight Timer - guided mediations
  • Medito - meditation courses and challenges to try the practice
  • Blip Blip (mindfulness bell) - to get back to the present moment

Technique

Physiological sigh : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3COeapdWfY

Books

  • Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind (Jon Kabat-Zinn)
  • The Qur’an (M. A. S. Abdel Haleem)
  • The Mind Illuminated: A Complete Meditation Guide (Dr John Yates)
  • Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life (Thich Nhat Hanh)